Alliance local government staff train on basic news writing

Fatima A. Asjad, HR Staff from LGU Sumisip drafts her first news article
on the first day of the 2-day news writing workshop.

August 16, 2018, Zamboanga City – Select municipal staff of the Western Basilan Alliance (WBA) from the municipalities of Hadji Muhtamad, Lantawan, Maluso, Sumisip and Tabuan Lasa gather at LM Hotel in Tetuan, this city. This two-day introduction to news writing workshop will run from August 16 to 18, 2018, facilitated by the “Modeling Inter-LGU Alliance in Basilan” (MILAB) Project and the Zamboanga-Basilan Integrated Development Alliance (ZABIDA). 

In his welcome speech, Mr Noor Saada, project manager, highlights the role of the MILAB project in capacitating the five municipalities towards their evolution into a functional inter-LGU alliance; and how this 2-day event will build staff competence in communicating their local government works, gains and plans on the worldwide web. 

Facilitating this 2-day workshop is Ms Frances Carreon, ZABIDA Communications Officer, who is in-charge of the ZABIDA’s website (www.zabida.org) and is also the editor-in-chief of the Peace Works, their quarterly newsletter. In her first session this afternoon, she explains the value of “advocacy journalism” and the basics of news writing as applied in development and advocacy works. 

MILAB is an 18-month funded project by the Spanish Agency for International Development (AECID) and implemented by the Institute for Autonomy and Governance (IAG) in partnership with ZABIDA as NGO partner. The provincial government of Basilan and the Office of the Regional Governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) are its key government partners.